Rakk
Rakk are flying creatures native to Pandora. Rakk do not have beaks. Instead they have a flat, fleshy head ending with a pointed snout, and hooked, rasping barbs lining a soft, slit-like mouth on the bottom with a brightly colored, bony plate on the top. Rakk also don't have grasping talons or lower limbs, but sport a set of curved, razor-sharp talons upon their flexible tail that they use to adhere to rocky surfaces. Carnivorous and known to kill living prey, Rakk can swoop down and use their tail to lacerate their targets without losing speed, letting them quickly gain altitude and set up another attack run. Rakk appear to be highly social creatures with a task-based hierarchy that includes scouts, hive defenders, food processing, and perhaps even long-term food storage not unlike Honey Pot Ants on Earth. They are also vocal, howling or screeching to rally a flock when a target presents itself or proves itself to be a threat. They also emit a screech at the moment of their slashing attack. Like all creatures, badass variants have elemental properties and will often try to bomb enemies with ranged elemental attacks rather than employ the usual diving slash. General Strategy In-game, Rakk have a large target profile and no critical spot to exploit, however they are extremely fragile, and any one weapon will kill an individual Rakk in short order. Too bad Rakk tend to attack in numbers. Shotguns are your best bet against flocks of Rakk as they provide a player the ability to fill the air with waves of metal capable of shredding entire sections of an attack run in short order. Second on the list are machine gun-style Combat Rifles which can rake a flock with a heavy rain of slugs, knocking one beast out of the sky after the other. Rocket Launchers can be used to vaporize small sections of attacking Rakk, but there are better uses for rockets. Submachine Guns, Repeater pistols, Revolvers, and Sniper Rifles are not recommended as they either don't hit hard enough per-shot, or don't fire fast enough to wipe out enough Rakk before they can do serious damage. Notes *While Borderlands presents the word "Rakk" as both the plural and singular form, certain citizens of New Haven can be heard saying, "Didja hear? We lost Jess to the rakks." *The Achievement "Rootinest, Tootinest, Shootinest" is earned by killing 5 Rakk in under 10 seconds. The best way to gain this achievement is by getting a vehicle with a rocket launcher on it. Find a hill that allows for a suitable firing angle so you are able to target them. One shot from the rocket launcher on your vehicle should get you the achievement. *On the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned there is a variant called a Skelerakk. They behave just like regular rakk, but as the name suggests, they are all bone. *Incendiary shotguns are extremely effective against Rakk. Trivia *Despite their aggressive behavior it is inferred that Rakk are also scavengers as well as predators. *Rakk often spawn from dormant Rakk Hives half buried in the ground, but are also known to inhabit burrows well above ground level. *Later, it is shown on the Trash Coast that Rakk Hives are actually ambulatory animals of titanic proportions. *Rakk seem to be a sort of parasitic creature as they live inside of the fatty humps on the back of Rakk Hives, with the cavities possibly having been dug out by the Rakk. Alternately, the relationship may be symbiotic with the Rakk gaining new hunting and foraging territories every Pandoran year as well as a temperature-controlled haven during the long Pandoran winter. The Rakk Hive gains protection from predators while they hibernate and migrate throughout the Pandoran summer, and possibly gains information on where to find food. *The name "Rakk" is a possible reference to the giant mythical hunting bird, the Roc. See Also :*Rakk Hive :*Mothrakk :*Rakkinishu Category:Creatures Category:Enemies